TwelveFoot Mountain Troll
by potterlife714
Summary: The trio's troll is nothing compared to what the Marauders are hiding from Lily Evans. She's determined to find out. Will James' modest act of heroism change her mind about him? Oh, and don't forget about Severus. General disclaimer applies. T for safety.
1. Unexpected

**a/n: So, I guess I'm back. I haven't written anything in such a long time. Only some random ideas now and then but mostly nothing serious. Then, a few days ago I just decided that if I'm ever going to start writing again, I might as well start now. Please, please, please disregard some of the stories on my account now. I'll admit it. They're not good. At all. But I have a feeling that this one will be much better. ****J**

**Dedication: tootsieXpopXdiscovery…JLG! Now you start writing J Oh, and only 85% percent left…**

**I'm not a usual LE/JP or LE/SS shipper when it comes to writing, but an idea just popped into my head and I figured I'd just go for it. Keep an eye out for another fic coming soon. A SS/HG, another interesting pairing.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Reviews are always welcome!**

* * *

"But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things that you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them" (Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone).

* * *

Lily hated James. She hated his arrogant attitude. She hated his ever-present overconfident smile, which, for some reason, always seemed to be aimed towards her. She hated his annoying habit of mussing his hair every second to make it look like he had, yet again, captured the Snitch and won the Cup for all of Gryffindor House's screaming, adoring fans. But most of all, Lily Evans hated the fact that James and his friends could do just about anything they pleased without consequence.

Well, she planned on changing that. First, she just had to figure out what is was, exactly, that they were doing.

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_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Lily Evan's sixth year_

_Potions Class_

"Alright class," said Professor Slughorn over the din of bubbling cauldrons and anxious students, "all pairs of students please submit a flask of their potion to me for inspection."

Lily looked at Severus apprehensively. "Are you sure we did this correctly? The book _did_ say to mix in the shrivelfig _then_ the minced gillyroot, not the other way around. _And_ we only stirred seven times instead of¾"

Lily was abruptly cut off by her partner. "Please Lily," he said, "have I ever, in our entire relationship," she glanced up at him, "our relationship as brewing partners," he clarified, "messed up a potion?" He spoke these last words with a degree of disgust that one would usually reserve for horrible cuss words or, in the case of Severus Snape, the name "James Potter."

"I suppose you're right," Lily resigned. "But Potter and Black have been getting better, and there's no bloody way I'm allowing them to get higher marks than us." Just as she finished this threat, James called across the room to her.

"Hey Snivellus! Hope that's some Anti-Grease potion you're brewing there. Don't want to get Lily all infected now, do we?"

"Ah," said Severus quietly to Lily, "speak of the Devil." She looked at him and gave a small smile.

James saw this and, as he always was when he saw Snape moving in on his girl and Lily respond to it, felt disgusted. And also a little embarrassed, though he would never admit it, even to Sirius. _" What does she see in him?"_ he wondered silently as Sirius continued to taunt the slimy Slytherin. _"Maybe she only likes smart guys…but it's not like I'm dumb, I get okay marks. And there's no way I'll give up Quidditch to study more. I'm Captain, for God's sake, why doesn't she want me?"_

* * *

_Gryffindor Common Room_

The fire was roaring. The frustrated sigh of students attempting to complete McGonagall's homework echoed throughout the room. The occasional shout of victory or grunt of defeat also rang out as a few students played Wizard Chess. All in all, a very normal night in the Gryffindor common room.

Also as expected, James and his crew were laughing loudly in an attempt to get every single girl in the room to notice them, not as if they didn't already. All the girls were giggling along with them or trying to catch glances at them and not look like they were blatantly staring. All of them, except for one Lily Evans.

Lily, like any good student and prefect, sat huddled in a corner by the fireplace studying. She may have been an ace at Potions, but Astronomy was a different matter entirely. Realizing that there was no way she could correctly depict Jupiter on its second rotation around the Sun and plot its moons in the noisy common room, Lily decided to head to the library.

Peace. Comfort. Solitude. These were the words that Lily associated with the place she considered her refuge. She discovered this her first night at Hogwarts five years ago. It was terrible. Her parents were teary and Petunia refused to go and say goodbye. To this day, Lily sometimes cries at the thought of her only sister's hatred. Lily was so upset that night that sleep was impossible for her. Hoping to find solace in the quiet of the corridors, Lily had snuck out of Gryffindor Tower. She had not thought, however, that the school being enormous and her being new, not to mention the constantly moving staircases, that she would end up lost.

Lily didn't mind though. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway so meandering around the castle wasn't a problem for her. Suddenly, Lily came upon a set of magnificent doors with the inscription _Erudio Quod Lectio Prolixus Mens_ written above it. "_A library_," she thought, "_just what I need_." Back at home, Lily had began devouring the books in her parents' library at age seven. Her thirst for knowledge only grew with her as she grew older. Faced with a massive library and a night all to herself, Lily picked a book at random off the shelves and sat.

Now was no different.

As she snuggled into her favorite comfortable chair by the ashes of a fire that must have been beautiful just hours before, Lily heard a voice.

Not a foreign one, no, but not one she was expecting to hear.

**a/n: Well, there it is. Hope you liked it. It will get more exciting as the the plot develops, promise.**

**Reviews would be wonderful ****J **

**-ali**


	2. All New

**Twelve-Foot Mountain Troll**

**Chapter 2 - All New**

**a/n: finally! an update! Sorry it's taken a while but here you go.**

**This one starts up just where the last one ended.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. Sadly, however, I don't and the characters and places don't belong to me. But the plot does, so…**

**Enjoy!!**

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_As she snuggled into a comfortable chair by the ashes of a fire that must have been beautiful just hours before, Lily heard a voice._

_Not a foreign one, no, but not one she was expecting to hear._

* * *

"Evans," the voice said.

She should have known. Who else would be sneaking around the school in the middle of the night. It was James, of course. But the library? She would have figured he was more of a sneak down to the kitchens or to the Quidditch pitch type of guy rather than one who sneaks out of bed to read in the library.

"Potter," she replied coldly, not letting any hint of her surprise seep into her words. That would only fuel him, make him think he was that much more exciting and important to her. "This isn't the kitchen, you know. No house elves here to give you food when they deserve some sleep themselves after cleaning up the giant mess that is this castle once you and your gang tear through it."

"Evans, relax. Slow down a bit," he said with a smile. "No need to jump down my throat. Unless you want to, that is," he ended with a smirk.

Lily's response to this utterly blatant innuendo was simply to turn away and close her eyes to clear her head. When she looked back around and saw that Potter was still standing there with his arms folded across his chest, leaning against a bookcase, she really began to get annoyed."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked knowing that he would, without a doubt, come up with some obnoxious answer.

"What, I'm not allowed to roam the shelves of our great Hogwarts library? _Erudio Quod Lectio Prolixus Mens_ is my motto, after all. Education and reading broadening the mind and all that."

He didn't disappoint.

If Lily's gaze on him was any more severe, the bookshelf behind James would have two burning holes straight through them.

James soon realized this and quickly said "Sorry, babe. Really, though just…ah…doing some late-night studying. We have more in common than I thought." He winked at her.

Oh, how Lily felt like screaming. To get into his insolent little arrogant face and just, for the last time, tell him off. She decided against this, however. Instead, she stood up slowly and walked over to him. He, by the confused expression on his face, apparently had expected her start screaming and was perplexed, yet intrigued, about her unexpected course of action.

Though she truly felt like slapping him across the face, Lily kept walking until she was a centimeter away from his face. "I. Am. Not. Your. Babe." she seethed. "Nor will I ever be," she hissed at him.

For a moment, James was shocked silent. He didn't know how to deal with this. The yelling and the insults he could handle, but this was all new to him. So James Potter did what James Potter knew how to do.

"If you say so."

It was the smirk on his lips that did it.

She had endured torment from James for years, but this was completely different. He had always known when to back off with her, and this time he had gone just one step too far. It was new to her and, because of this, she was no longer able to restrain herself.

Six years worth of fury exploded out of her at that moment. The resounding CRACK of her palm on his cheek was a sound she would not soon forget in later years.

James stood stock still. Never, ever would he have imagined that Lily Evans would hit him. Yell and scream and give him detention, yes, but hit her? Again, for the second time that night, James did the only thing he knew how to do.

"Wow, Evans. Didn't know you had it in you."

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**a/n: ugh, I feel like punching James right now, too. don't you? arrogant little git…**

**: )**

**well, there you go. hope you liked it. Just in case you were wondering what **_Erudio Quod Lectio Prolixus Mens_ **means, it actually is "Education and Reading Broadens the Mind." I thought that was appropriate for a library. If there's any grammatical mistakes in there somewhere, feel free to let me know ( nicely, of course : ) ) because I don't speak Latin.**

**Sorry if it's a little short. They'll be getting longer and (hopefully) better as they go along, promise.**

**If you need a nice little oneshot, I suggest ****Nettle Wine's Left Side****. It's an ss/hg written by yours truly. Eventually, either after or during this fic, I'm starting a chapter Hermione/Severus. **

**Until next time, REVIEW and adieu!**

**-ali**


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